This mass marking program started in 2011. So there are 2 year classes of tagged chinook salmon in the Indiana tributaries right now.

Indiana DNR is asking for the help of fishermen to collect heads of tagged chinook salmon. Especially from Salt Creek, Deep River, and the Little Calumet River. These areas are hard for the DNR to sample and they do not want to kill fish before anglers have a chance to catch the fish.

If you catch a chinook salmon without an adipose fin, you can just cut the top jaw off and put the snout in a ziploc bag marked with the date and where it was captured.

the Indiana DNR would love it if you turned in the head of that fish to them at their Lake Michigan office in Michigan City

“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television.”― Aldo Leopold

Awesome, thanks Nobote. Should have thought to just add the photo rather than a link, d'oh!

“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television.”― Aldo Leopold

Made me mad after I done it but my first two that I caught couple weeks ago was missing the fin. I didn't think about it until after I had run them down the disposal at the Mich City Marina cleaning station. Shows where my mind has been I guess.

Just a reminder for the upcoming stream salmon season - ALL hatchery Chinooks in Lake Michigan (1, 2, and 3 year olds) are marked with an adipose clip and a coded wire tag. We expect most Chinook salmon returning to Indiana tributaries should be hatchery fish, so almost all the fish you catch in our streams should be tagged.

Indiana DNR and the USFWS are looking for tagged salmon in Indiana tributaries, Salt Creek, Little Calumet, Deep River especially, but also Trail Creek.

If you catch one and want to turn it in, you can remove the head by cutting the snout off, starting just behind the eyes. We don't need the bottom jaw, just the top half of the head.

Then bag the head individually with a note saying when and where it was caught, freeze, and turn into the Indiana DNR Lake Michigan Office at 100 West Water Street, Michigan City (phone 219-874-6824)

If you catch want to know the age and where/when the salmon you caught was stocked, you can leave your information at the office and I will make a note in the database, and notify folks when we get the information back.

“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television.”― Aldo Leopold